Plastic honeycombs may save disappearing bee populations

Ecologists from the University of Wurzburg have developed improved breeding methods to aid research into
risks to bees. They detailed the methods in a study released in Methods in Ecology and
Evolution, which involve using plastic honeycombs to rear bees
in the laboratory.

The culprit for this decline isn't precisely known but a number
of factors have been blamed. These include environmental pollution,
agricultural pesticides, bee diseases, changing habitats and issues
arising from bee genes. Harmen Hendriksma, beekeeper and lead author of the study,
likens bee research to an "arms race", saying: "Researchers try and
keep up with monitoring emerging new risks to bees. We need better
ways of analysing our results."

Hendriksma believes that plastic honeycombs is one such way.
Previously researchers used a method known as "grafting" to
rear bees in laboratory conditions. The process involved collecting
tiny larvae around 1mm long with feathers, needles or brushes.
Despite the considerably skill needed to graft bees, handing the
larvae would frequently result in their deaths.

Allowing honey bee queens to lay their eggs directly into an
artificial plastic honeycomb means the larvae do not need to be
handled to be collected. Hendriksma explains: "The artificial comb
has a hexagonal pattern with 110 holes the size of wax cells. The
queen lays her eggs directly into these small plastic cells.
Because the back of each cell has a small plastic cup, we can
collect the larvae without handling them."

Plastic honeycombs are widely used by professional honey bee queen breeders, but this is the first
time the technique has entered a laboratory environment. "Like many
people, I'm a bit lazy and wanted to find a quicker, easier way of
rearing honey bees in the laboratory. When I tried using the
plastic honeycomb system I found it was just perfect," he says.

With the plastic honeycomb in place, researchers attained a 97
percent survival rate amongst larvae. Furthermore, the simplified
method means that more than 1,000 larvae can be collected in 90
minutes. As well as improving the survival rate, Hendriksma hopes
that the plastic honeycombs will improve the quality of bee
research, thanks to the standardised method it provides.

Comments

I have applied for a UK patent for a beehive which specifies a plastic backing for wax foundation on a system of coiled honeycomb. I wish to respect the work done by Hamen Hendriksma as my own intuition is that bees would much prefer a more natural 'work base'. If I were to employ a totally plastic honeycomb cells would I be infringing on his prior intellectual property? I do hope that would not be the case. Yours most faithfully, Bob Millgate.

Robert Millgate

Feb 20th 2012

Request for sponsorship donationI turn to you with requests for sponsorship donation to the new project: Saving the populations honey bee (in any forms donations: books,microscope for learning bee anatomy of body or any material or tools for young beekeepers) If you will be generous and will be donate some money,that's money from your donations will be spent on / recovery, treatment, purchasing breed materials,development and education of young colonies of beekeepers in South Moravia / Czech Republic / Klobouky u Brna. Im working on project in my free time and for free. I do not own any company and Im trying to do everything at home from my own resources to create conditions for the development of hives.I focus primarily on a project that would probably never live to see the successful end of the development work is starting beekeeping and beekeepers enable them to revive the idea of life of honeybees.I am glad that our members are dedicated to developing so much time and energy in preparing projects and is very uncomfortable for me, even for me to chose from them money on equipment and teaching aids!Therefore, here I turn to you for any help.

For any support beekeeping / Project: Saving the honey bee / thank you in advance.Petr ZelinkaContacts in any order: petrzelinka.com@seznam.cz